Turkey Stock - after 2 days - the real nectar of the gods

Our family Thanksgiving is full of traditions. There is always a whole fresh pumpkin pie stashed in the fridge for the day after Thanksgiving. Breakfast and leftovers wouldn't be the same without them. We also save a bag of rolls for cold turkey sandwiches. And, about 4 years ago we inaugurated Friendsgiving at out house. All traditions, entrenched.

The tradition I look forward to for it's amazing fragrance over the Thanksgiving weekend, is the making of Turkey Stock on the stove. I gather the bones and cart them home when my sister has Thanksgiving. This year we combined friends and family and had the dinner party at our house. So just after the guests left and my Dear was on the 3rd load of dishes, the turkey popped into my La Creuset Doufeu, with yellow onions and carrots and just enough water to cover it. I had also reserved the turkey roasting pan drippings and side by side they spent the next day reducing into the most wonderful stocks. Of course the small version from the pan was done the first night. This morning I let the big pot finish and drained the nectar to these jars. (There are 3 of them.)

I'm quite happy to have this brilliant base for soup -- which we can use almost anytime -- and for sauces. Someone was suggesting a Turkey pot pie, too. And since I made the (amazing) Torrisi's Turkey Breast recipe I found at Food 52, (thank you!) we may have just enough turkey left for a pie. Turkey soup sounds good, but we're facing 75 degree weather right now. When the temperature changes, I'll pull the stock out of the freezer, hopefully in December, and make a beautiful pot with fat noodles.

I had a wonderful experience with Ina Garten's make ahead gravy this year. I had a jar of chicken stock for the base. The recipe calls for chopped red onion, butter and flour and seasoning. I added drippings and a crisp white wine when the turkey finished and it was so good. Next year, I may make a turkey around the beginning of fall and save that stock for the big day.

Thanksgiving with all its traditions is an evolving tableau. This year we added a wild rice dish and my son's new favorite, Mrs. Board's chopped sweet potatoes. (He fell in love with them, so those sweet potatoes in jackets just had to move over on the plate and give space to their bright orange goodness.)

Thanksgiving is such a creative and inspiring holiday for me. How about you?

Why didn't I think of that?

I walked out onto the vacation veranda to note these two ingenious girlies. Both were in full noodle float mode when I arrived on the scene.

Really, why didn't I think of that?
Wrap.
Float.
Sleep.

Occupational Hazard

I asked my son if he'd grab my coffee from the table. 
Guess where the difficulty began.

A new habit - Chicken Stock

It may not be so pretty, but, thick, rich, chicken stock is my new love. It's a base for so many choices; gravies, soups, sauces. The list almost makes itself.

So about a year ago I became entranced with a roast chicken. It may have been a few years ago when I was practicing with Roast Turkey and the roasting just leaked over into the little birds. Weekly. I've tried lots of recipes, high heat, low heat, sear and reduce the heat, stuffed, unstuffed, trussed, untrussed, but the one that stuck is Ina Garten's. She tells the story of making it every Friday night for her Jeffrey. I think it's tremendously romantic and inspiring. Ours tends to be a Sunday treat. Moved to the weekend while the kids are at youth group. Just me and my love, a chicken and salad.

The roasted chicken is the easy day in my weekly plan. I get it ready, roast it, serve it and then, ah, leftovers for lunches or dinner and the best? Easy, easy clean up. I make mine in a cast iron skillet. While we eat the pan sits. I heat it up and deglaze with white cooking wine. Then whatever veggies made it under the bird, ends up in the stock pot along with bones, skin, a fresh onion and the deglazed juices. It all simmers low and slow for a few hours and voila! Stock.

One bird. Three roads. Happy am I.

5 more minutes

A Saturday morning. One of my kiddos heads off to a volleyball tournament, the other is off to PE, surfing at the beach. I know.

What makes me laugh this morning is the joy of those three words: five more minutes. Teenagers, living to live and needing a few more minutes of sleep is just the reality.

But being the dependable one who can give that 5 minute respite? I'm there. It's good to have this job.

Oh wait...I have to go. 5 minutes are up!

Joy at Christmas:: a birthday

I'm so happy to have the cake 

and the plate

 and the kiddo who wants to decorate

 even when she's called out of bed

as we celebrate 

one we love so very dearly

before and through the Christmas holiday

 

We continue to celebrate the day you were born my Dear.

Giving thanks - November 15:: A Time To Remember

I'm so thankful for this book and it's telling of the Pilgrim's true story. I got to share parts of it with my daughter's advisement class twice in the last two weeks. (I'm thankful for that too.) Through the book I'm reminded that it's impossible to be grateful and resentful at the same time.

I'm choosing the grace of gratitude.

All I really want

is for my kids to know that each of them is, in fact, my favorite.
And they are.

A moment of realizing.

We were simply sitting on the deck at Joan and Ed's enjoying our New Year's Brunch. 

The conversation, the food and the gorgeous California canyon Sunday was just perfect and wonderful. As was the company of these three little families who've been growing a friendship with great intent for fifteen or so years. 

And suddenly in the calm of the whir of enjoyment, I was arrested by the absolute beauty of the child sitting across from me. The sight stopped my musings and gave me pause -- and a small gift.

It was a stunning realization. These kiddos we trap in our mind at different ages and moments are so far from the little ones we carried in Bjorns and carted everywhere on Group adventures.

They've moved into a launch space. On that bridge we have to walk them across, sometimes close behind, sometimes right next to and then, too, at a painful and encouraging distance. This one, this child, not my own, but of my heart and woven into the fabric of my life and the lives of my family, made me see. These beautiful, talented, interesting and interested people are moving quickly into their own.

And there really is not so much else to say.

A very Big Rush

My youngest asked me in passing a few days ago, if we could get tickets to see Big Time Rush in concert.

I have to say, the fact that the TV show boy band was touring (or really sang on stages) was nowhere near my radar. But we were alone for the weekend and absolutely free on Friday night. So, (with visions of boy bands gone by dancing in my head) my fingers walked the internet and I found a pair of tickets.

There are many joys in momhood and one of the big ones is truly surprising your kiddos. I downloaded the tickets and put them in my laptop bag. And then I waited for the ceremonial asking of the question - again.

A day later, she came through. We were ending our day when she said with just a hint of a whine in her voice,  "Mom, is there any way we could look on Craig's List or anything for tickets, I'd really like to see the concert." I asked her when the concert was - she said Friday - I handed her the pages I'd printed out, saying, "Read this, I think it says something about Saturday." It took her a few minutes to connect to what the pages were and then the shocked smile and "REALLY? WE'RE GOING?" Oh, yes.

So we went. We had fabulous orchestra seats amongst 12,000 screaming girls, parents and the occasional kid brother. It was great fun. The boys work really hard and put on a great show. They're well choreographed, but casual and they have tons of personality. But enough about them, the real show was watching my girlie as she kept mentally pinching herself, video taping with her iPod, singing with the boys and saying "Thank you Mommie, this is the best!" We sang along, jumped and clapped to our delight.

A couple of times it really struck me - these moments are few and far between and mark her stepping into the hallway of the teen years. Gratefully, we took the step together. My ears are ringing but as you might imagine, if was quite the rush.

Now, it's off to download the new song and the wallpaper.

Family Royalty - Sandra Hubbell Sanders

For me it will always be true that this woman, my Aunt Sandy, is the most beautiful woman in the world.

As a little girl she was family royalty. My lovely aunt with smiles and hugs and fun and the very best handwriting.

When I was a teenager she was the girl I wanted to look like. When I became a mom she's the one who notices a few grays after I had my son and told me to color it. (No boy should have a gray mom.) I took her advice, copied her handwriting (for a while) and took on all the joy she shared with me.

I'm sad to say, she passed away a week ago in her beloved San Juan Islands.

I like to think she's having tea with Lady Di, Grace Kelly and Jackie Onassis and her USC Delta Gamma sorority sisters.

February 20 - I Love:: The Kid & The Cuddle

At the end of a day that started badly but turned out to be both fun and wonderful, my big girl and I tucked into my bed for a cuddle. I knew we were going to read, but she was against it. That is until I turned the second page in MEET THE AUSTINS by Madeline L'Engle*. Then she was hooked and snuggled very close to listen until she could listen no more and off she went, to whereever the preteen girl with all the friend struggles and new desire for dresses, goes.

It's an awfully sweet time of night and life.

If I could, I'd hold this moment in time forever.

I love my girl and her brilliant, lovely cuddles.



*Highly recommend, great series for this age.

February 15 - I Love:: A cozy dinner at home.

For Valentine's Day we were home in our cozy house.
We shared Valentine's cards and a treat here and there (oh and a little girl was spoiled with a HUGE gorilla from her daddy).
For dinner, a yummy, unbreaded version of Chicken Parmigiana with lemon noodles and haricot vert.
Simple.
Sweet.
Cozy.
Oh I do love the season of hearts.

February 12 - I Love:: the Man Who Posted This

I really love the man and this post.

I'd marry him.

But I already did that.

Glad for it.

That's all I have to say.

February 9 - I Love:: The artist in my midst

Birds on a wire or in a tree set my heart to dancing.
Can't explain it, it's just the way I work.
On the way to school, there's an intersection where tons of birds congregate.
I look forward to seeing them. I comment. I swoon.
So at Christmas time, my girlie made an appointment with an art teacher to provide me with an everlasting impression of the thing I love: my birds.
This is just a piece of the picture.
She brings me such delight.

February 5 - I Love:: Game Night

God bless her! That girl loves cards.

My mom is a member of her church seniors club. They gather every week to sing and pray and then the whip out the cards. Her gals are particularly fond of Skip Bo. And Mom's a bit of a card sharp. In fact, this is the way I picture the ladies as they sit looking innocent enough, in their 70s and 80s. I doubt that they cheat, or play for money or anything like that, but Mom will never lose a game because she isn't paying attention. She's always all there and all in.

So last night, with  one man down, while my eldest was off with his youth group for an overnight at their leader's college dorm. (Watch Mommie breathing.) Grandma came for dinner and brought her favorite game. Skip Bo. After dinner, we headed to the dining room table for what I like to consider the bloodbath. My daughter has a few of my mom's traits and one of them is attention and focus on whatever is at hand. She's a good card player and actually takes a fairly aggressive stance - intending to win. So the cute little Skip Bo cards become tools, weapons even in their hands. My mother and daughter in cahoots. Each winning a couple of games a piece while my Dear caught up on a show in the man cave and I sat at their mercy, wondering how I'm supposed to know when to fill my hand with the five cards. Cute little colorful cards -- producing winners and losers and tons of giggles.

I love game night. It's just so wonderful to soak in all the family I can get.
My tank is quite full thank you!

What are your favorite games?

Traditions & a French Dip Sandwich

My kids are getting old. The handwriting is on the wall. They may not be leaving tomorrow, but every moment today has to do with their tomorrows. I'm noticing how important family traditions are to both of my two. We have plenty of traditions around holidays, Sundays, birthdays, late mornings, etc., (and a discussion of them will make another post).

I've also noticed that the traditions I don't legislate, but that evolve over time are very important.

A year or so ago we went to Philippe's for French Dip Sandwiches a couple of times after Christmas. We saw lots of families with college aged kids, likely home for the holidays, eating and chatting for long stretches of time. I thought, "I love this - a cool, not-so-blatantly Christmassy traditional visit to a great LA institution - we can do this!"

However, we didn't go at Christmas this year. At least I didn't go. My Dear took the kids into LA for some errand or another and ended up stopping at Philippe's without me. And then I got this laryngitis business and didn't feel like going anywhere for a couple of weeks. My tradition was canceled, put off, done for the season.

So Monday, with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, we decided to go up to LA's great camera store - Samy's -  to explore each of our digital photo/video needs. And on the way we stopped, along with the rest of the city, for a French Dipped Sandwich.

While we stood in line, my daughter starting singing Christmas songs. And my son reminded me that the Beef Dip is better with a pickled egg.

My timing may be off a bit, but my traditions are thankfully, embraced and intact.

The most beautiful girl in the world.

My daughter has been on a double overnight with her good friend.

She's away and having fun, as it should be.

I am missing her sparkle and spark.

Ah, absence and the heart.

Fondness.

And the joys of anticipating reunion.

Noticing Fall - the rush to batten down the hatches

Summer has been long over in many respects, but I have tried not to notice or respond to any great degree. I love fall. Couldn't wait for it. But, would prefer to retain some of the summer trappings: lights in the backyard tree, those around the patio, uncovered wood and barbecue.

The report came in yesterday for rain, rain, rain so in the all hands on deck style, we desummerfied quite quickly. It's so much fun when everyone chips in. My son took on the filling of the wood bin inside and helped make sure the rest of the wood was well covered with the chips handy.

We came in and then proceeded to watch the amazing and glorious summer sun come out.

Jokes on them. Our work it done. Time to play.

Mother Daughter Sunflowers

Mother

Daughter

My girlie and I had the great pleasure of taking a little art class in the study of sunflowers in acrylics today. The breeze was blowing in the breezeway path as we listened to the instructor tell us how to do what she thought we were doing well. We loved being spoken to so gently. "That's it. Very nice. There you go." And then when I had a change in direction she helped me switch my focus and light source and I felt like I knew what I was doing. Which is a nice feeling.

We are enjoying the Sawdust Festival in Laguna like never before.